NORMAL — A 20-year-old Illinois State University Student from Hoffman Estates died Wednesday after an Amtrak train struck him when he tried to cross the tracks on foot. The victim has been identified as David Hirsch, a junior from Hoffman Estates majoring in Special Education.

Rescue workers found him lying on the south side of the tracks east of the University Street railroad crossing, just south of Beaufort Street. He was taken to BroMenn Regional Medical Center, where he died.

Assistant Police Chief Rick Bleichner said the man was walking north on University and was crossing the tracks at the appropriate crossing area. He was hit at about 2:30 p.m. as the train headed northeast.

The train, which was decelerating to stop at the Normal train station, was stopped across University Street while police investigated.

Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said about 50 people were on the train, which was traveling from San Antonio to Chicago. The train was delayed an hour and 22 minutes.

Deteroriated bridge will mean 40-mile detour for trucks

SPRINGFIELD – A deteriorating bridge on Illinois 97 west of Springfield is going to mean a long detour for truck drivers for at least the next year.

The Illinois Department of Transportation plans to place a 15-ton weight limit on the small bridge at Prairie Creek about five miles west of Springfield. To cover those five miles, however, trucks will have to make nearly a 40-mile loop that will take them to Petersburg.

"There's 500 trucks a day that cross that bridge," said Rep. Rich Brauer, R-Petersburg, who crosses it when he travels to Springfield. "You're going to add 40 miles one way to that trip."

The bridge is just east of the intersection of Illinois 97 and 125. IDOT's preferred detour calls for trucks to get on Illinois 4/Veterans Parkway in Springfield, turn north on Illinois 29 to Illinois 123, take that west to Petersburg, and then drive south on Illinois 97 back to the 97/125 intersection.

Granville pharmacist honored by state

GRANVILLE — When a tornado hit Granville in April 2004 and forced the closing of the only drugstore in Putnam County, longtime owner and pharmacist Dave Thompson immediately knew what had to be done.

Within about four days, he arranged to have a mobile office building set up and equipped it to keep filling prescriptions for customers who had been depending on the Granville Drugstore for more than three decades.

For a year, while insurance issues were being sorted out and the new building was going up, Thompson and store employees worked shoulder to shoulder in the trailer to dispense medications and provide a basic assortment of other drugstore items.

That was one of many memories that came to people’s minds this week as Thompson, 66, was honored with a “Prime Time Award” as Illinois’ Outstanding Older Worker for 2007.

“I was very honored to be nominated. I never expected to get the award,” Thompson said.

The awards have been given annually since 1998 to recognize people 65 and over who make valuable contributions to the workplace.

Police issue 34 drinking tickets at Bradley

PEORIA – Two months into the school year, police are once again cracking down on underage drinking near the Bradley University campus.

Officers wrote 34 citations for illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor at two separate parties between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. Saturday.

Twenty-one of the tickets were written at Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house, 1522 W. Fredonia Ave., and the other 13 at the Sigma Chi fraternity house, 1408 W. Fredonia, according to Illinois State Police.

The crackdown, dubbed Operation Campus/Tap, also gave three other party-goers notices to appear in court on misdemeanor drug charges. Their names were not immediately available.

Registered sex offender may have gone on school field trip

ROCKFORD – Rockford School District officials and Rockford police are investigating whether a registered sex offender was allowed to accompany his child on recent field trips.

Parents are alleging that a Thompson Elementary School father is a registered sex offender and was allowed to chaperone with other parents on the trips, Rockford Police Sgt. Bob Redmond said.

“At this point it is under investigation as to what has taken place and if there is any criminal violation,” Redmond said.

School officials and police said no children were reported to have been harmed by the parent, whose name isn’t being released by officials.

“There has been absolutely no indication from anybody that any students or children were harmed in any way,” School Board attorney Stephen Katz said. “My understanding is the issue is whether or not a registered sex offender was allowed in the presence of students at a school function improperly.”

Jobless rate rises again in September

ROCKFORD - Local unemployment was up again last month as more people entered the work force in search of jobs.

The September jobless rate in Winnebago and Boone counties jumped to 5.6 percent from 4.4 percent at the same time last year, according to data released today by the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

It is the worst year-over-year increase in nearly three years, but that spike may not be as bad a sign as it seems. The local economy continued to add jobs, with 400 more positions last month compared to September 2006, which means the ranks of both employed and unemployed workers grew.

It’s part of a trend that began this summer and indicates that workers who left the labor force discouraged by lack of jobs are gradually re-entering it in search of work. That means unemployment grows as they look, but it is generally a sign of robust job creation.

Mystery storage tank has Belvidere officials baffled

BELVIDERE - Officials don’t know how an underground tanker got where it is, but they know what it’s doing – driving up costs for their planned parking lot.

Workers discovered the underground storage tank about a week ago while working to convert the former Lincoln School site on Main Street into a parking lot.

“There is nothing functional about it and they need to see if there is any liquid in it,” County Administrator Ken Terrinoni said.

Underground tanks are required to be registered with the state fire marshall, but this storage unit never was, leaving officials baffled about its contents and origins.

The schoolhouse, which was demolished in September, dates back to the 1850s, with additions added in the 1890s.

“When something is that old it may very well predate any state oversight,” said Maggie Carson of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Tazewell to hire cyber crime expert

PEKIN – The Tazewell County State's Attorney's Office has added a new investigator position to further fight against identity theft, child pornography and other cyber crimes.

The County Board unanimously approved creating the position on Wednesday.

A growing number of Internet-related crimes and those involving digital equipment such as cell phones and cameras have created the need for such an investigator, said State's Attorney Stewart Umholtz.

Cases involving child porn, computer hacking, computer fraud, telephone records and all cases that require the forensic examination of data storage devices now will be completed more quickly for the county's police agencies, Umholtz said.

The idea of hiring an investigator to deal specifically with cyber crimes has been discussed for the past 10 months, but the county has been struggling with a surge in such crimes for the past five years, Umholtz said.

Ottawa going green

OTTAWA — Mayor Robert Eschbach wants Ottawa to have an environmental policy in the upcoming year.

“The city of Ottawa needs to implement a policy that should include energy efficient practices ... and encourage the same among our residents,” he said.

One program Eschbach wants to explore is the Cool Cities Program. Thirty-two Illinois communities are in the program, which began in 2005 and encourages residents and local leaders to implement smart energy solutions.

“It is this generation’s responsibility to solve the problem of climate change at all levels, not just at the international level,” he said.

Domestic violence shelter seeks help

SPRINGFIELD – Sojourn Shelter and Services Inc. is seeking help after a resident accidentally activated the building's sprinkler system Oct. 14.

The resulting downpour damaged several sleeping rooms, the food pantry and the kitchen.

As a result, some Sojourn residents are sleeping on rollaway cots, and the two dozen people who stay there are reduced to using two refrigerators and a couple of microwave ovens set up in a conference room.

The shelter's insurance company is going to pay for all the repairs, but it won't cover the cost of feeding the residents in the meantime.

"We don't usually buy microwave convenience foods because they're too expensive and not in the budget," said Tami Silverman, executive director. "But they're really all we can use at the moment, or quick foods - lunchmeat, granola bars. That's what we're asking for help with."

Some people also have volunteered to cook hot meals for the shelter, which serves victims of domestic violence in the Springfield area.

Springfield High school gets new principal

SPRINGFIELD – Tammie Bolden, the first black female principal at a public high school in Springfield, will be moving to the school district's central office to serve as athletics coordinator, a new position.

Shelia Boozer, who has been a district administrator and elementary school principal, will take over for Bolden at Southeast High School by the start of the second semester in January. Bolden has held the position since the 2005-06 school year.,

Alexander Ilejialu, the district's head of human resources, said a variety of factors led to the decision, including Bolden's experience as an athletics administrator.
School Superintendent Walter Milton Jr., who joined the district July 1, had been considering the move for some time, Ilejialu said.

"Southeast is a very challenged school, and (Milton) had been nurturing the idea for some time," Ilejialu said. "We think this move will benefit more kids and help them mature along the way."